Klautz had been trapped in the ninja village for decades! Only he knew what kind of hell it was. In fact, hellfeim itself would pale in comparison to that village.
Had Klautz never had traitorous thoughts of escape?
Was there no opportunity for him to do?
He did! But even so, he could never escape until he killed all the ninjas of the village. Surprisingly enough that escape itself brought about his own death. He could have very much killed himself without even going through such a long battle.
Klautz would have only laughed if would have known of Maebi's intentions to escape from the village.
Escaping from a ninja village was not merely a matter of growing in 'strength' and becoming independent. Had that been the case, wouldn't Klautz had escaped the village himself?